Sparkler Monthly is a multimedia, digital shojo/josei magazine of original English-language fiction. Our carefully selected creators are paid advances for their work and go through a thorough editorial process. After a book or audio story is serialized in the magazine, it’s bundled with bonus material and sold as ebooks, limited paperbacks, and/or CDs in the Sparkler Shop (similar to the magazine –> tankoubon system in Japan). In addition, our paperbacks and products can be found at a number of retailers; see our Retail & Libraries page on where to buy, and how to acquire books for your business or library.

The primary audience for Sparkler Monthly is girls and women aged 15 and up, or anyone interested in the rough ballpark of Female Gaze. Our four founders and most of our staff identify as female and are committed to promoting inclusive, fem-positive, and ridiculously fun content. We welcome creators of any gender and are particularly interested in entertaining, engrossing stories that tap into the variety and diversity of fandom. Read some select reviews and articles we were featured in on our Press Page. Unless stated otherwise, the stories and Sparkler Monthly website are appropriate for ages 13+, and suggested ratings for individual series can be found on our Ratings page. (See Terms & Conditions here.)

If you would like to sponsor a particular series or advertise your business in Sparkler Monthly, please see our Advertising page. If you’re a self-published creator who targets a similar shojo/josei audience, and you’re looking for a third party to distribute, edit, or prepare your materials for print, you may be interested in our Sparkler Distro program. If you’re interested in working for Sparkler Monthly or pitching a story to the magazine, see our Jobs and Submissions page.

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About Our Memberships

All our back chapters are free to read. A paid membership (starting at $5/month, $7 for the first month) includes the newest material a month or more early, DRM-free downloads, and Member Exclusive bonuses, all of which can be found here. Paid memberships ensure that we can continue to pay our creators and staff for their work.

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Some of Our Series

Wilfrid is on a quest, but being imprisoned in a city under siege has brought any progress to a sudden, grinding halt. Luckily for Wilfrid, there’s a prison guard on their side. Unluckily for the prison guard, and everyone else who has the misfortune of meeting this enigmatic vagrant, they’ll soon discover the bloody nature of Wilfrid’s quest…

Hina Hwan is woken up from cryogenic sleep on a spaceship for a 15-year work term with five other crew members. But she swiftly learns that the only thing worse than six people isolated in space…is six people and an unidentified corpse.

Tory, an extremely intelligent 15-year-old, becomes obsessed with his odd new neighbor and begins documenting his every move. But this pursuit of friendship—and possibly more—leads Tory to the one thing he wasn’t expecting to discover.

When Louise’s wealthy family loses everything, she has to pull herself up by her bootstraps and start over in a new high school – where the smartest boy is the meanest, and the hottest boy is the weirdest. But Louise needs tutoring, so the three become a team… It’s a riches to rags school story with a whole lot of screaming.

From the moment she was born, Ayase Watanabe could turn her body into a swarm of insects. Jo Oda grew up in Japan’s foster system, picking pockets as he was bounced from home to home. When they enter high school and get caught up in a gang war between several dangerous factions, they can’t hide from themselves, or anyone else, any longer.

An angelic embodiment of hope living on earth in the guise of a human, Toivo Valonen has acted throughout history as a source of wartime inspiration and comfort. In the year 1960, he embarks on an undercover mission in the Communist state of Kalevia, allied with a rebellion against the government–and pursued by rival agent Demyan Chernyshev, a dark angel in the employ of the KGB.

In the 17th Century, while the powers of Europe struggle for dominion over the oceans, Danielle flees her upper-class life to find her father, who entrusted her with a miniature astrolabe. On her way from Barcelona to Marseille, her life is threatened and she is befriended by a handsome pair of travelers…but Angeline and Leon are definitely not what they claim to be.

Cailen Delaney, grad student and long-suffering ghost magnet, would rather spend her break getting reacquainted with her pillow, but is instead dragged into the aftermath of a strange series of murders with a fellow sensitive, Everett Jung.

Garnet Rune is a powerful witch with a bad attitude. After ticking off the wrong person, she is cursed so that whenever she uses her magic, a poisonous tattoo is etched into her flesh–enough tattoos, and the poisonous ink will kill her. Of course, instead of taking this as an opportunity to right past wrongs and fix her behavior, Rune sets off on a quest to find the witch who cursed her and make her pay! From Studio Kôsen, creators of Windrose.

Crazy cat lady Misaki Tanabe is perfectly happy to stay in her room with her cat and Wi-Fi, but her dormmates want to get to know her…and may need her. Misaki’s social anxiety actually stems from a psychic power – the ability to “hear” the inner voices of the people around her. When she overhears dark thoughts from a visiting man from her past, she may not be able to stay in her room, after all.

Moss is an anorexic, aromantic drummer who wallows in apathy and inadvertently wooed his boss in a bathtub. But when Phoenix – a fire elemental turned human pop star – lands on earth and decides to move into his apartment, his stale life gets torched. Phoenix is on a manhunt to find and kill her father, and she has no problem dragging everyone around her into the fire.

A lady knight, a runaway brother, a foolish rogue, an angry witch, a dying race, an arranged marriage, a surprising transformation…and an adventure! Another classic comic from Jen Lee Quick, author of Off*Beat.

About Chromatic Press

Sparkler Monthly is published by the independent publishing house Chromatic Press (founded 2012). See the Chromatic Press company website for more information.

Staff

Lillian Diaz-Przybyl (head comics editor) was Senior Editor in TOKYOPOP, Inc. from 2004 to 2011, where she worked with both original creators to develop new manga and freelance translators/editors to localize Japanese manga. She’s developed original and localized comics for HarperCollins, Viz Media, and Crunchyroll, among others. She is currently a freelance editor, script supervisor, and general assistant for various comic and film projects in Los Angeles and Hollywood. (comics@chromaticpress.com)

Lianne Sentar (managing editor, head prose editor) has been a freelance writer and editor for Japanese manga and novels for TOKYOPOP, Inc., Digital Manga Publishing, Inc., and Seven Seas Entertainment, Inc. from 1999 to present. She also served as head writer and editor of the anime/manga review collective Sleep is for the Weak from 2002 to 2011. Currently, she shares her time as an editor and Kickstarter specialist for Hiveworks Comics. (editorial@chromaticpress.com)

Rebecca Scoble (head audio editor, head of retail), a classically trained musician and composer, has been a freelance editor for Japanese manga and novels for TOKYOPOP, Inc., Digital Manga Publishing, Inc. and Seven Seas Entertainment, Inc. from 2006 to present. A former contributor to Sleep is for the Weak, she is also a freelance editor of original comics and a former library consultant for one of the top comic retailers in North America. (audio@chromaticpress.com)

Jill Astley (CFO, assistant editor) has volunteered in the manga/anime/game industry since the 1990s. She is one of the top voices in the English-speaking otome game fandom and has presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference on the topic. She has a decade of experience working in corporate finance and management for one of the largest banks in Canada. (finance@chromaticpress.com)

Lissa Pattillo (head web admin, lead designer), a member of the Valkyries collective, has a background in press with her site Kuriousity and articles for Anime News Network and Otaku USA, but she also works extensively as a freelance designer in both web and print. Currently a full-time editor for Seven Seas Entertainment, she’s designed or optimized chromaticpress.com, sparklermonthly.com, and many of our logos and covers. (web@chromaticpress.com)

Joseph Stillwell (head of marketing) is CEO of the webcomic publishers Hiveworks Comics and Slipshine, and extends his marketing expertise to other publishers including Pixie Trix Comics. An expert on building readerships and infrastructure in the digital comics market, he has an unmatched track record in the construction of a sustainable webcomics economy.

Leah Waig (head of production: ebooks, audio assistant, social media) began working with Sparkler Monthly as an audio intern before her promotion to regular staff. She currently freelances as a multimedia editor specializing in ebook formatting for both prose and comics, and can be contacted by other publishers and self-publishers about her services here.